Qatar’s Commercial Bank expects to issue bonds worth $500m in the first or second quarter of 2020, Chief Executive Joseph Abraham said yesterday.
“I think it’s a good time (to sell bonds) because the interest rates have gone down and there is good appetite for Qatar,” Abraham told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Doha.
The Federal Reserve has cut interest rates three times this year, but signalled in late October its rate-cutting cycle might now pause.
Abraham said he expects 5 percent loan growth in 2020 for his bank, similar to the pace seen so far this year.
Commercial Bank, the country’s third-largest bank by assets, has been looking to sell its 40 percent stake in Abu Dhabi-listed United Arab Bank (UAB), after sale talks stalled last year.
“We are continuing to manage that business as a continuing part of our business,” Abraham said.
“We are very clear if we don’t get the price we’re looking for we’re not interested in discussing.”
